Another record was broken on Saturday at Bicester, when the final of the Jersey
Cup was played between Kirtlington and Souldern, for there were about 1400
people present, including children, the gate receipts amounting to £31
- 9s - 6p. As anticipated, Souldern won, but only by a goal margin of one.
The arena
was quite picturesque with the fresh grass, the spotless white shirts of the
Kirtlington team, and the distinct magpie colours of Souldern.
The game was officiated by three county referee's: Mr J. D. Dance in control,
and Messrs W. Clifton and W. Smith as linesman.

Kirtlington won the toss, and Loft chose to have the assistance of the wind
during the first half. Yet Souldern were soon attacking, and their left wing
gained
a corner, which was placed behind. S. Bates then checked the Kirtlington right,
and passed to his forwards. Wise eventually received, and his shot just missed
the target. Kirtlington improved as the game advanced, but the only dangerous
shot put in for a time was by Norridge. A Free kick cleared the Souldern lines
and there were some exciting exchanges near the Kirtlington goal. P. East was
a good spoiler, but often he found the Souldern left wing too good for him,
Callow being tricky and fast, whilst B. Westbury used his weight to advantage.
The Latter
got the ball into the net after the whistle had gone for off-side. S. Callow
got in a fine centre, which J. Westbury put over the bar. Souldern were having
so much more of the game than Kirtlington that their supporters cheered them
with the remark "It’s a walk over for you." But it wasn't.
The Kirtlington defence was hard pressed for a time. Scarrott saved from J.
Westbury,
M. Westbury had a shot charged down, and Scarrott conceded a corner from a
dropping shot by Reeve. The corner was well placed, and Scarrott punched away.
The Kirtlington
forwards were given very little rope, and M. Westbury effectively bottled up
their captain, although I did not particularly care for some of the methods
he used. The Souldern goalkeeper had to save from a long shot, and then came
the
only goal of the match. B. Westbury had the ball and took it close to the goal.
Wise was waiting for his pass, which seemed the obvious thing for Westbury
to do. The inside left, however, positioned the ball, and beat Scarrott with
an
unstoppable shot.

Straight from the kick-off, Kirtlington attacked with vigour, and several shots
were put in. The most dangerous situations came from overhead kicks. Humphies
punching away on two occasions. Eventually "Duchy" Bates cleared.
Kirtlington attacked again, and Giles put in a high shot, which the wind curled
round the
post. Souldern replied by forcing a corner, and then Kirtlington centreforward
caused Humphies to handle. S. Callow had a fine run and centre, and Scarrott
cleared. The ball was quickly taken to the other end, and Humphies ran out
to clear. The ball was returned into the goalmouth with the custodian away,
but
the target was missed. Kirtlington almost scored a few minutes later, when
Humphies punched away on three occasions and gave a corner. This was about
the nearest
Kirtlington came to scoring throughout the match. Their forwards never attempted
to take the ball close in, and kicked forward from impossible scoring positions.
On the other hand the Souldern forwards played football. Wise was certainly
useless in the centre - anno domini is telling its tale - except that he kept
the forwards
in their places.

Reeve was conspicuous for a time at centre-half for Souldern, who had much
the better of the play till the interval. Wise had one or two opportunities
to score,
but the ball was too lively for him to control. Kirtlington looked dangerous
from a corner, but Humphies punched away. The Interval came with Souldern leading
by a goal to nil.

As the "Magpies" had been playing against the wind during the first
half, and had bulk of the play, an easy victory appeared in sight for them.
But this was not the case, for as a matter of fact Kirtlington had more of
the game
than their opponents, though there was no cohesion in the forward line. The
Lillywhites certainly opened well without becoming really dangerous. M. Westbury
relieved
matters with some nice runs. He, however, seemed out of place at right-half,
though I suppose he had a watching brief over F. Loft. From a free kick Enser
headed over, and later A. East hit the bar, and M. Westbury headed a corner.
Palmer also had a good shot saved by Humphies. Souldern next got dangerous
from a couple of free kicks. T. Callow also had a shot which struck the upright.
B.
Westbury was tripped just outside the penalty area. M. Westbury took the kick,
but the ball was cleared. Souldern again attacked, and B. Westbury saved the
ball from going over the line, and made a perfect centre, from which only a
corner resulted.

Kirtlington made one gallant effort to equalise in the closing stages, but
for the last ten minutes there was very little in the play. As the whistle
blew,
with Souldern winners by a goal to nil, a cheer went up, or the supporters
of Souldern seemed to be in the ascendancy. It had been one of the best Jersey
Cup
finals I have seen, the standard of football having greatly improved. An interested
spectator was Mrs Westbury, who had four sons playing in the Souldern team. "Our
Mil played against Aston Villa last week" she proudly observed.

Immediately on the conclusion of the match, the cup was presented to the
captain of the winning team, F. Humphies, by Lord Greville. His Lordship
regretted
that the Earl of Jersey was unable to attend through ill-health. He congratulated
the winners on their victory, as they always liked to see new teams appearing
on the list of winners. He congratulated both sides on the good game they
had played. It had been a very clean game with very few fouls.

Medals were presented to each of the winning team and the runners-up.
On behalf of the Souldern club, Major Wise congratulated Kirtlington on the
sporting game they had played, Kirtlington had been very unlucky in appearing
in so many
finals consecutively without winning. He hoped the two teams would meet
next year in the final, and that Kirtlington might have the luck to win the
cup.

On behalf of the Lord Jersey Football Association, he wished to thank Lord
Greville for presenting the cup and medals and also for his interest
in the game that
afternoon.

The teams and officials were afterwards entertained by the Jersey Cup
Association to a meat tea at the White Hart. The cup was filled and
handed round to
the company. Major Wise made a suitable speech before handing the cup
to the
Kirtlington captain
for the first drink.